AmiralLaurent
Posts: 3351
Joined: 3/11/2003
From: Near Paris, France
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18-21 July 1942
There will probably be no summer lull... my opponent is sailing the kitchen sink to Hawaii ! More details below...
Northern Pacific
The Allied port in Adak Island reached size 3 on the 21st.
Central Pacific
The usual routine (intensive minelaying) was broken on the afternoon of the 20 when a Geln reported 3 AP and 1 MSW 480 miles WSW of San Francisco "probably heading to Hawaii" (1800 miles away at the time). All seven submarines of the picket line off the Western Coast (all with a Glen aboard) were ordered to converge on the convoy.
The word of the sighting crossed the Pacific and reached Yamamoto at Hiroshima. He at once ordered the 3 BB and 5 DD refueling at Pago-Pago to sail north, and transmited the news to the Japanese CVs returning from Suva to Pago-Pago but not yet changing their orders. The 25 Zeroes of F1/Tainan left at once Nandi for Pago-Pago.
In Pearl Harbor, the local admiral also took measures. He gathered all available AKs and sent them to Lahaina to evacuate all unnessecary troops, as the division planned to defend the island was in Fiji. He ordered the minelaying operations to be continued, and sent west 2 CS and 1 AO.
His officers issued reports describing the local situation. First the ground situation. Pearl Harbor was deemed able to resist against an Allied landing (972 ASS points (core of which is the 56th Div), all 100% prepared for PH, enough support squads (the 16th Army is here), fort 9, 24 780 mines... 100 000 supplies, 100 000 fuel). Lahaina had no chance resisting any serious landing, but may disrupt one or two divisions (82 ASS, fort 8, 12 700 mines). Hilo and Kona were both defended by an understength IJN Base Force (both around 20 ASS, with 30% prep for their base) and 2200-2300 mines. Lihu and Moloaki were only covered by minefields (around 2500 mines each).
The original plan was that one more division was in Lahaina, but the ground situation is not so worse, compared to the air and sea situation. I had planned a two-month break in July-August, and I really needed it. My (apparently wrong) estimation was that the Allied forces will return to Hawaii in October 1942 or later. The plan was to have a strong BB TF off PH able to stop bombardment runs, and 200 Army and Navy fighters protecting them. The plan was to let the USN crash on them (and the extensive minefields) and then counter-attack with the Kido Butai (if it was in the area) and Betties.
Problem is that neither the Japanese BBs, CVs or fighter arm were now strong enough to apply the plan. In the evening of the 18, Hawaii had 76 Zeroes, 36 Ki-51, 33 Kates, 27 Emilies, 26 Betties, 26 Nells, 17 Vals and some floatplanes. The only warships in the port (CV Kaga and Hiryu, BB Kirishima, 3 CA, 6 DD) were almost all not operationnal (one CA had SYS 5, the two other 8, all other ships had SYS between 12 and 18). Only five submarines were fully ready to sail.
Another problem was that the fuel situation in the Pacific was critical already before the bad news. Neither Pago-Pago or Palmyra had no more fuel, and 130 000 tons of fuel were planned to arrive in one week at the former. Only 5-6 AO still had fuel in the area and were busy refueling ships.
Yamamoto ordered on the early hours of the 21st that Palmyra will be the concentration point of the IJN, and ordered both TK TF to sail to this base rather than Pago-Pago. He then went to bed at 3 in the morning, hoping that next day Glens will report that it was just a convoy sailing south...
It was not the case. At dawn, the SS I-7 reported several Allied TFs 180 miles more SW of the sighting of the day before and tried to attack one, but was chased by the escort (only one DD). Glens then found again the Allied armada (see map above to see their reports). The I-17 crew disappeared after a message saying "Engaged by fighters". That could only mean one thing: Allied CV sailed with this force. Other Glens didn't see them but reported BB, CA, DD, AP, AK and MSW... The fleet is moving 240 miles a day and will arrive in 7 days in Hawaian waters.
Once the news were confirmed, Japanese radio frequences became even more active. All major warships in PH (both CV, the BB, CAs and DDs) left the port toward Johnston Island. The five submarines left the other way, to patrol along the probable path of the invasion TF. One of them, the I-122, will try to lay an open sea minefield in the path of the enemy fleet. The AK fleet sent to Lahaina quickly loaded 3 of the 4 Const Bns of the island and an AA Bn and will unload them in PH before retreating too. The MLs were ordered to lay more mines in Hawain waters and E of the islands (in open sea) for 2 more days before also leaving the area.
And an air reinforcement plan devised during the night by the IJN Command was set in motion. The 25 Zeroes that left Nandi the day before saw their orders to go to PH confirmed. Other units flying eastward are 17 Zeroes from Hanoi, 26 from Clark Field, 27 Betties from Wuhan and 27 from Hiroshima, and 20 Vals and 11 Zeroes from the CV Soryu that will arrive tomorrow in Tokyo for SYS repairs.
All Japanese warships in the Pacific will be concentrated in Palmyra. The Kido Butai sadly had no more any of the 6 major Japanese CVs and has only 250 AC (at least all have experienced crews), and is facing probably 3 US CVs and 2-3 British ones, for a total of around 350 AC... So the idea is to let the LBA draw the first blood. The surface warships available are 4 BB, 8 CA, 4 CL, and 25-30 DDs.
The more Yamamoto was thinking to it, he saw no means of stopping an Allied landing in any place, and that left Pearl Harbor as the only place able to hold in the area. The mega-minefields (result of four months of daily clicking...) will probably decimate the invasion TFs, but will they be able to stop bombardment of PH ? A lucky hit on a CV by a submarine or an open sea minefield will really help the Japanese defence.
The Allied commander had probably chosen the best possible date for his first offensive move.
Southern Pacific
A new attack was launched against Suva on the 18 with the support of the BB Yamato, 5 CA, 3 CL and 10 DD that bombard night and day and hit 880 men, 8 guns and 5 vehicles, and scored 3 hits on the airbase, 5 on airfield supplies, 29 on runways, 10 on port, 3 on port supplies and 6 on fuel. 17 Vals from Nandi bombed the 2nd USMC division and hit 7 men. The KB did launch a raid with 49 Kates (1 lost to AA and another ditched) against the Allied artillery unit of the base, the 26th FA Rgt, that lost 155 men and 2 guns, but was attacked in the evening by the SS S-33, that was unable to get trough the escort and was chased by 5 and then 6 DD southeast of Suva. The attack failed at 0 to 1 (1313 ASS points vs 1347 after coreections) but the engineers destroyed another fort level, reudcing it to 3. Japanese losses were 1965 men, 18 guns and 1 tank, Allied ones 455 men, 15 guns and 9 tanks.
After this relative failure, Japanese troops reverted to artilley fire and the Japanese CVs left toward Pago-Pago for recompleting bomb stocks.
The next two days were more quiet. The MSW Kyo Maru 5, hit by a patrolling B-25C some time ago, sank off Nandi on the night of the 18-19, while the 4500-ton AP Chifuku Maru was scuttled at the same place in the evening. Nandi Vals hit two Allied submarines, the Dutch KVII on the 19 and American S-33 on the 20. 17 Vals from Nandi bombed again the 2nd USMC on the 19, hitting 12 men and 1 tank, and on the 20 9 Betties and 7 Nells from Pago-Pago attacked the airfield, hitting 7 men, 2 airbase buildings and 1 supply dump and leaving 5 hols in the runways. In two days, artillery fire hit 31 Japanese and 130 Allied.
Another attack was launched on the 21. In the preceding night, the Yamato TF (1 BB, 4 CA, 3 CL, 7 DD) bombed the base before sailing to Pago-Pago and then probably to Hawaii. 121 men and 1 vehicle were disabled, the airbase was hit once, the runways twice, the port twice and supplies once. At the same time 3 MSW found a new minefield off Nandi. In the morning the SS S-39 tried to attack the ASW group patrolling SE of Suva (5 APD). She was unable to find a firing position but wasn't detected.
The deliberate attack reduced the fort level to 2 and achieved a ratio of 1 to 1 (1501 ajusted ASS points to 907, the best ratio so far). Japanese losses were still heavier (1699 men, 40 guns, 1 tank vs 921 men, 28 guns and 16 tanks) but the local commander is confident enough to order a shock attack for tomorrow. It is hoped it will destroy all fortifications, and maybe take the place. He asked a last effort to his men, but didn't tell them that the Navy was retiring most ships and aircraft from the area to counter the threat on Hawaii.
Solomons-New Guinea
Japanese engineers expand the airfield of Truk to size 8. Four DD should arrive shortly from Davao and will be used for FT operations to take small Solomons and New Britain bases around Rabaul.
Timor-Amboina-Australia
Allied airmen continued to be very active in this area. On the 18, a Nell was shot down by the CAP over Darwin while 48 B-25C and 24 Beaufort V-IX from Darwin bombed Aru Island under escort of 10 Kittyhawk I, failing to hit anything and losing a Beaufort in a crash.
The next morning 84 B-17E from Darwin attacked Sorong and scored 21 hits on the oilfields but only hit installations already disabled, leaving the 5 intact centers running. A B-17E was lost in an accident. In the afternoon five more operationnal losses occured when four raids were launched from Australia. The first three raids were from Darwin. 20 Beaufort V-IX bombed Aru Island and lost one, 27 LB-30 hit Amboina (70 men and 1 gun disabled, 8 hits on the base, 4 on supplies and 12 on runways) and 37 B-25C and 7 T.IVa attacked Lautem (8 casualties, 1/2/4 airfield hits) but lost 4 B-25Cs in a storm. Ten B-25C from Derby missed Koepang.
The next night, two FT TF that left Kendari on the evening of the 18 reached Aru Island and one picked up 2100 men of the Imperial Guard division, while the other was unable to find the planned beach and returned empty. The next morning 4 B-25Cs from Darwin were sent to attack them but didn't find their target. These TFs returned home on the 21.
In the afternoon of the 20, Aru was bombed by 19 Beaufort V-IX from Darwin escorted by 9 Kittyhawk I. They scoredo ne port hit but lost one Beaufort in an accident. 48 B-25C from Derby bombed Koepang, hitting 41 men and 1 building and cratering 19 times the runways but losing one of them to AA fire. 47 B-25C and 7 T.IVa from Darwin attacked Lautem and scored 1 hit on the airbase, 3 on supplies and 12 on the runways, doing 41 casualties, but one of each type was lost in an accident.
Five raids from flown in the afternoon of the 21st. 30 LB-30 from Darwin attacked Kendari airfield. They were intercepted by 36 A6M2, 31 Nates, 23 Oscars and 9 A6M3 and a bloddy battle saw 11 LB-30, 4 Nates, 3 A6M2 and 1 Oscar fall. Only 6 LB-30 reached the target but they bombed efficiently, destroying 2 Oscars and 2 Tabbies on the ground, hitting 30 men, 1 gun, 2 buildings and leaving 4 craters on the runways. 25 Beaufort V-IX escorted by 16 Kittyhawks bombed and missed Aru Island. 85 B-17E attacked Sorong airfield, scoring 9 hits on the airbase, 4 on supplies and 51 on runways and doing 215 casualties. On Timor, 35 B-25C from Derby bombed Koepang (12 casualties, 3/1/25 AF hits) and 53 B-25C and 6 T.IVa attacked Lautem,scoring one hit on supplies and 2 on runways. They were 3 more losses, a B-25C shot down by AA over Koepang and a B-17E and a Beaufort lost in accidents.
The damaged BB Ise and Hyuga sailed from Davao on the 18 with two DD as escort, while the four other DD that were there sailed to Truk (that has no warship bigger than a PG).
The FT missions to Aru Island won't be repeated: too dangerous with the heavy bombers concentrated in Darwin, and FT TF are not good at all to pick up disabled squads. Six barges were sent from Amboina to Aru Island and should arrive on the 22 or 23. They will evacuate soldiers still on the island.
Southern Ressource Area
The Zuid Garrison Battalion didn'y keep Benkolen for long. After a raid by 31 Ki-21 from Palembang on the 18 that hit 20 men and 1 guns, the 137th IJNAF Base Force landed there on the 19 and 20 (314 casualties) and launched on the 20 an attacked supported by 41 Ki-21, 32 Ki-27 and 28 Ki-30 from Palembang, that hit 38 men and 1 gun. The Dutch were defeated at 36 to 1 and surrendered (717 POW, around 15 troop points) while the Japanese lost 33 wounded and killed.
The usual transport operations were not stopped by this episode.
Burma
Japanese engineers expand the airfield of Rangoon to size 6, and then stopped working on it and will build more fortifications (current level is only 2). One Const Bn left the city and was sent to Mandalay. That was the only noticeable event. Rangoon Zeroes will LRCAP Akyab and hope to intercept Allied bombers here when good weathe will return but thunderstoms raged the last four days.
Philippines
Manila continued to get pounded by Japanese guns and by aircraft when the weather allowed it. In four days, Clark Field airmen flew 425 sorties (118 Ki-21, 78 Ki-48, 66 A6M2, 63 Vals, 52 Ki-49, 48 Kates) and hit 423 men, 5 guns and 2 supply dumps, while Japanese shells hit 488 men and 1 tank and lack of supplies disabled 739 more men.
The Japanese reinfoircements (HQ Southern Army, 35th Bde and 2 Tk Rgt) have all finished landing in Naga and are marching to Manila, as are the troops (several SNLF and Eng Rgt) that were sent to Clark Field for R&R. A new attack will be launched next week.
China
Nothing really new here. All Japanese troops ordered to Wuchow and Homan were in place in the evening of the 17 and joined the artillery fire at both places. Both cities are probably lacking supplies, their garrisons being reduced respectively of 350 (225 hit by shells) and 438 (422 hit by shells) in four days. In Homan, Japanese troops are waiting for a good weather day to have the best aerial support possible and will then launch a schock attack.
The Chinese situation is better more north. 13 units are in Sian, and 7 in the hex NW of the city, on the raod to Kungchang. They are probably busy preparing defences here, so Homan will probably not be defend nails and toes.
More north, the Chinese supply situation is better and despite losing 166 men to Japanese artillery fire in 4 days, Kungchang saw the number of its able defenders only reduced by 127. In Lanchow the Japanese are the side lacking supplies and Chinese artillery began pounding them on the 20 and hit 90 men and 3 guns in 2 days. A Tk Rgt and an Eng Rgt being here received orders to march to Yenen. They should leave the city NE by the road, and then one of the two units will march west to cut the Sining-Lanchow road. One IJA Base Force (with 30 ASS points) left Yenen and will keep a part of the Yenen-Kungchang road, enabling one of the units actually doing this duty to move to Lanchow-Sining area.
In this area, Allied aircraft were the most active. On the 18, the 110th Japane Div was attacked near Kungchang by 23 Hurricanes and 5 P-40B from Lanchow and lost 88 men and 2 guns, while a regiment of the 27th Div besieging Lanchow was hit by 23 Hurricanes from Sining and lost 41 men. These raids were repeated on the 20, the 37th Div losing 86 men and 1 tank in Kungchang and the regiment of the 27th 22 men in Lanchow.
Japan
An Allied submarine was seen on the 19th and the 20th in the Bonins area, but there still had been no submarine attack in Japanese waters.
Someone in the Japanese industry ministery took a strange decision: he converted all Ki-43-Ib factories to Ki-61 Tony. As it seems to me that the Ki-43-Ib will be used until the arrival of the Ki-84, and that the actual pool is rather small, I will probably have to convert one of my small factories to Ki-43-Ib again to produce some in the future.
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RE: 24-25 June 1942: quiet days again - 
But IMO they go against "sane" strategic and historical premises of the game. (Now that's strictly my private opinion anyway.) 
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